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The droning roar reverberates against the wooden floorboards as the movements of a lithe woman weave about the stage. A hum sounds again as a man with a gray ponytail blows into the 3-foot didgeridoo. Behind them, the soft swishing and scratching of charcoal sticks on paper.
This is Raw Art, a non-rehearsed performance started by dancer Sarah Haas.
Haas has toured the country with her mobile stage for the past two years and recently joined forces with Marisa Muro, a deaf painter.
“I wake up and I want to do it every day and I’m willing to be poor to do it. For me it is about creating something that is beautifully imperfect,” Muro said.
The harmonious trio met at an intentional community in the South Valley. The trio now performs at the Sunflower River Intentional Community, which hosts all travellers in need of accommodation and provide food and shelter in exchange for work on the farm, said Rev LeReve Tsolwizar, community steward and didgeridoo player.
“Having the support of the people actually makes it possible to do more things. There’s this synergy of resources that allows you to accomplish so much more than you can do than when you’re just trying to do it by yourself,” Tsolwizar said.
The movement, sound and painting trio have used collective efforts to create an oasis for community connection, he said.
Each of the three artists was strongly motivated by their passion for their art, so much so that worries like rent, bills or 9-to-5 jobs couldn’t stand in their ways, Tsolwizar said.
“In the beginning stages it was a huge struggle. I went through a lot of depressive days, like totally discouraged. It is definitely something that you have to like and want badly enough to have to face the challenges,” Tsolwizar said.
The earth-friendly community has been together for seven years and has five adult and one minor residents. The existence of the residence allowed the artists to immerse themselves fully into their passion.
“I agree with the idea of communal living. It can take a lot of the stress off. Here I don’t pay anything but I work in exchange,” Haas said.
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Hass said there was not enough support for artists like themselves. She was not the only one who had found the situation to be daunting.
“I had all these jobs and I was still struggling financially. So I was like ‘What am I killing myself for’ and ‘I’m not creating the work that I want to,’ so a few years ago I decided to quit my job and I’m just gonna paint full time,” Muro said.
The artists said they are far into their journey through simplification of their lives. They explained that they no longer want to be massive consumers of goods and services and believe that this new ideology is needed in today’s society.
“I’ve been on this path for a while I’ve been slowly getting rid of things. It was a little scary ‘cause I was like ‘Woah! There’s my safety net,’ but once I called and was like ‘I’m not coming in anymore, I quit,’ I thought that was easier than I thought and after that I stopped worrying about stuff,” Muro said.
The united artists enjoy having audience members sit, stand or even lay down on the compact mobile stage. Haas said this was a way to make the audience a part of the interactive sessions.
“I just like to collaborate with people in any medium possible and I use this space for anything, for rehearsals for performances or potlucks or brainstorming sessions, it doesn’t matter what people want to use it for. I like the idea of a community of events,” she said.
Raw Art Interactive Performance
Saturday at 5 p.m.
SunFlower River Intentional Community
6909 Isleta Blvd. S.W.
$5 to $20 suggested donation
